New York-Style Coffee Cake Crumb Muffins

I pretty much share all my treats with coworkers & friends because there’s no way it’s healthy if Jason and I ate all of them! I love that the panettone baking cups stand up on their own so you don’t even have to put them in a muffin tin.

You just place them on a baking sheet and bake! They fill a lot too, which was great for this recipe since the crumb to cake ratio was about 3:1 – the best!

Sidenote: You know what’s worse than craving Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday and having it be closed? Rolling up to a Chick-Fil-A on a Thursday evening and seeing that it’s CLOSED due to renovations.

What the what?! So inappropriate!

We pulled up to the CFA parking lot and there were about 7 other cars just parked in the parking lot looking as confused as we were trying to quickly think of plan B for dinner.

Can you imagine if you had a wailing 5 year old in the backseat? “But I WANT Chick-Fil-A!!!!!” Yeah, good thing we don’t have one of those. This lady even got out of the car to see if this was a joke.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a joke. Lame-o.

When it comes to crumb cakes, especially the New York-style coffee crumb cakes, I’m all about the crumb.

I prefer very little cake and a massive crumb topping. When I found this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, I knew I had to try it.

If you’re tempted to substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour – don’t. Just go to the store and buy cake flour. Why?

If you use all-purpose flour, you’re going to end up with a dry, tough muffin. Also, use buttermilk! If you don’t have it, you can always substitute it with plain yogurt or put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 1 cup of milk.

The recipe says it makes a dozen and you might find that a little unbelievable, but remember: this recipe is more about the crumb topping than the cake.

This recipe has just a cushion of cake compared to the massive crumb topping. If you want to make an even ratio of cake vs. crumb, then it’ll only make 6 muffins.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin pan with baking cups or prepare panettone baking cups by spraying them lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the butter over top and using a wooden spoon, mix until incorporated. Then add the cake flour and mix until mixture resembles a thick and cohesive dough. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and buttermilk and mix until all has been incorporated and batter is light and fluffy.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup (**see NOTES below), divide up batter into prepared muffin pan. Then, sprinkle a generous amount of the crumb topping on top, using your fingers to pinch the dough into a crumbly mixture, if not already. Do not press the crumb topping into the batter. Just let it sit on top.

Bake for 20 minutes or until crumbs are golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (Note: I did stick my muffins under the broiler at about the 15 minute baking mark so the tops would get nice and brown. If you do this, make sure to watch it carefully. You do not have to do the broiler step and can omit it completely.)

Let muffins cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Notes

You'll need to use deeper/taller than normal baking cups for this (like panettone baking cups) otherwise the crumb topping will fall off. If you use normal baking cups, use less batter then add the crumb topping.

Hi, I’m Julie and welcome to my table! I'm on a mission to simplify the relationship between food & busy lifestyles. I strive to inspire you with real recipes for real life that are always deliciously easy, innovative, and approachable that your whole family will love!

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Comments

Shannonsays:

Thanks for sharing, but I must say the 325 temp was too low. I had to increase up to 350. I have an independent oven temp thermometer and double checked to make sure it was accurate. These came out so underdone. Back in they went…son still liked them.

I wonder if this could be made into a big sheet cake?
And I would totally LOVE to know KATIE @ BLONDE AMBITION’s Italian Grandmother’s recipe… My Italian grandmother had a lot of recipes, but sadly, no coffeecake!

This is an amazing recipe. I have made it several times now in a 9”x9” glass pan. Having grown up in NY and now living in the SF Bay Area, I miss New York bakeries. This recipe takes me back to NY. Super easy to make and it turns out great. For a bunch, I prep the cake the night before and place it in the refrigerator overnight and bake it in morning. Who doesn’t like warm coffee cake in the morning. Thank you for posting the recipe.

Julie, thanks so much for the recipe, my husband loved them. I have tried several similar and they weren’t just right. These were!! FYI if you do not have cake flour, you can substitute 3 tablespoons corn starch for every cup of flour. So measure your flour, take 3 tablespoons out of the cup and replace with corn starch. Boom! Cake flour.

1st of all I want to tell you that this recipe is amazing the flavor is just right and the texture of the crumb cake is perfect. tender moist all the things that crumb cake should have. I am struggling quite a bid with of the crumb topping. I bought the panntonne molds and have been using them. I’ve made 2 batches so far trying to get the crumb topping the stay on top but it continues to sink to the bottom! I wanted to know if you have any suggestions before I go out and buy more molds. The top of my cumb cakes are flat because the dough rises up above the crumbs leaving no crumbs and they’re all inside and not really not that pretty. What is the secret to crumbs that dont sink?! I really appreciate any suggestions. I have been following your directions to a t. :)

what kind of muffin liners are you using? that could be one way to prevent sinking, but also if you pile them really high with the tall muffin liners, they may prevent sinking since the sides of the muffin liners would “hold” them

Thank you for asking. I am using the same panettone molds you suggest. They are expensive but beautiful. My topping is high as I baked 9 individual panettone cups. I appreciate any suggestions you have to help these not sink. The taste is perfect, and I really want to perfect these. Thank you again.